Selecting the Software and Vault Language

Note: This content is no longer updated. For the latest content, please go to the user guide for M-Files Online. For information on the supported product versions, refer to our lifecycle policy.

Users can change both the software language and vault language via M-Files Desktop. The software language refers to the texts and labels that you see in the M-Files user interface, such as button texts, dialog titles, warning messages, and so on. The vault language refers to the metadata structure language, which is always specific to a given document vault.

Do the following steps to change the software and the vault language:

Click your username in the upper right corner.
Click User Settings > Change Language.
Result:The Change Language dialog is opened.
Use the Software language drop-down menu to change the language of the M-Files user interface.
Use the Vault language drop-down menu to change the language of the current vault.
The vault language selection contains all languages that the document vault has been translated into.
Click OK to change the languages and to close the Change Language dialog.

The M-Files user interface language and the current vault language are changed accordingly.

If 1) the software installation language, 2) the vault language, and 3) the Windows display language are the same, all the M-Files functions and the metadata structure of the document vault are displayed in the language in question.

Note: If you want to create a new vault in a language other than the currently selected software language, you must first change the software language and restart the M-Files Server service via Windows Task Manager before creating the vault.

Note: If the user adds a new value to the value list, the new value (concept) will be added to the original metadata structure, that is, the source language contents, regardless of the user's vault language. For example, a user with Finnish as the vault language, can add a new value LVI-piirustus to the value list Drawing Types/Piirustustyypit. If the source language was English, the new Finnish value "LVI-piirustus" is displayed among the English values: "Architectural, LVI-piirustus, Mechanical, Services", and so on. The name of this value can be changed in Value List Properties to correspond the source language, after which it can be re-translated into Finnish. Common views can be named in the same way according to the text added by the user, regardless of the source language.

Note: If the metadata structure is translated into several languages, the software or the vault language selected by the user does not affect the search results. For example, if the user has selected Finnish as the language and added a document to class Hinnasto, the document in question is included in the search results when using the search criterion Price List. However, then the concepts Price List and Hinnasto must be translations of each other, that is, different translations of the same concept.

Changing the User-Specific Default Vault Language

Administrators can also change the default language of a vault for a specific user. The selected default language can be any of the vault languages. If neither the user nor the administrator changes the vault language, M-Files will use the vault source language as the default.

Do the following steps to change the default vault language for a specific user:

Open M-Files Admin.
In the left-side tree view, expand a connection to M-Files server.
Expand Document Vaults.
Expand a vault.
Select Users.
Result:The Users list is opened in the right-side pane.
Right-click the user whose default vault language you want to change and select Properties from the context menu.
Result:The User Properties dialog is opened.
Use the Vault language drop-down menu to change the default vault language for the selected user.
Click OK to save your changes and to close the User Properties dialog.

The default language in the selected vault is changed for the selected user.